Lesbian and gay partners of often considered as parents who are very different than

Question

heterosexual partners. Describe the findings in Dalton and Bielby that reflect the similarity to
and difference from heterosexual families.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The article by Dalton and Bielby leave the thought that lesbian and gay partners committed in
a life relationship have virtually the same maternal/paternal desires as heterosexual couples,
but do develop different parenting structures. Many persons desire to be parents, come from
homes where they helped raise brothers and sisters, want to be biological parents, and
negotiate arrangements with the partner to prepare for the parenting experience. For them,
parenthood is a definite choice, with significant obstacles to the process, thus couples often
make strong commitments to the process. Dalton and Bielby report that same-sex parents tend
to negotiate the division of labor in managing parenting and the household, they sought to
create a family arrangement that resembled most two-parent families, sought to introduce
opposite sex roles to their children to enhance their identity formation, often developed rather
complex child care arrangements, prepared for their child's' educational experience, and
developed legal arrangements to provide for long-term care and inheritance rights for their
children. In taking these actions, same-sex unions are very similar to heterosexual families.